An NTSB report says poor track maintenance by CSX Transportation led to last year's Amtrak derailment in Florida that killed four.
By Associated Press
Published August 6, 2003
WASHINGTON - Poor track maintenance was to blame for the deadly derailment of an Amtrak Auto Train in Florida last year, federal investigators said Tuesday.
The National Transportation Safety Board unanimously approved a report saying CSX Transportation failed to ensure that the track was properly aligned and had adequate support.
"This is something that should have been prevented through proper maintenance," NTSB chairwoman Ellen Engleman said.
The Auto Train, one of Amtrak's most popular services, travels between the Washington suburb of Lorton, Va., and Sanford, just outside Orlando. It was headed north when it derailed near Crescent City shortly after 5 p.m. on April 18, 2002. Twenty-one of 40 cars left the track. Four people were killed and 36 seriously injured.
The engineer told investigators he saw a misalignment of the track just ahead and was trying to apply the brakes when the train derailed.
CSX employees and Florida rail safety inspectors told the NTSB that section of track was troublesome because it was built on a steep embankment, and the gravel used for ballast kept sliding away.
Inspections after the accident found sections near the derailment lacking the necessary ballast in the "crib" between ties and along the track's shoulders, the NTSB said. Full crib ballast is needed to keep ties and rails from slipping out of place.
A CSX coal train passed over the track just before the Auto Train took the curve. That crew told NTSB investigators they noticed no roughness or irregularity.
CSX employees also had inspected the section of track twice earlier in the day, and Florida rail safety inspectors had checked it a week and a half before and found nothing wrong.
In its report, the NTSB said CSX should develop a program to ensure compliance with the company's maintenance standards.
Gary Sease, a company spokesman, said CSX has already implemented NTSB's recommendations.
Last spring officials said the company has improved training for employees who maintain and inspect tracks and was testing laser technology to help identify places that need more ballast.
The NTSB also asked Amtrak, the Federal Railroad Administration and the Transportation Security Administration to ensure that accurate lists are kept of all passengers and crew on long-distance trains. Investigators said determining who was on board the derailed train was made more difficult because there was no such list.
"If you have emergency personnel looking for people who don't exist, that's unacceptable," Engleman said.
